


Love Your Enemy

by SerialKillerQueen



Category: Hanged Man (Video Game), Strange Men (Video Games)
Genre: (Angst-ish), (But he's not in this fic much sorry Keith ilu), Angst, Complicated Relationships, Ed is a mess and a half, Friendship, Gen, Keith is such a dad, Not A Fix-It, Not Shippy, POV Of A Scene, Will is a good bean, do not copy to another site, unbeta'd we die like mne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22853599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerialKillerQueen/pseuds/SerialKillerQueen
Summary: Will's thoughts when he meets Ed in the forest.
Relationships: Keith Baring & William Morton, William Morton & Edward Hayes
Comments: 15
Kudos: 11





	Love Your Enemy

His feet ache, and his head hurts, and his eyes are sore, and he is _trapped._

“Will…”

And Ed is there, he looks angry, but still concerned, his voice is still gentle, it’s at odds with the blood splattered on him.

(Rob’s blood, Keith’s, his own).

“...Keith should be long gone by now.”

It’s all Will has, all he can throw at him at that moment, Keith’s alive even if Will-

Even if…

“I… I told him to run away while I was leading you around! There’s no point in just hanging me, right? So this is it for you!”

And Ed’s knees give out, the snow crunching faintly as he lands.

And Will feels bad for him, he’s so angry, but he’s scared _for_ him.

“I was… always uneasy. I was worried I was delusional and nuts. So the fact that you believed me about Pop, and understood what I was saying… It made me happy. 

Ed is silent and still.

“But it’s no good. If you completely go into your own world, you’re ultimately going to be all alone. You can’t keep _living like that_ you won’t have faith in yourself! I need to get out of the room I’ve been in. I need to become an adult… Don’t you too? Sacrificing someone _won’t_ make you happy. Even if it does… you’ll definitely regret it someday. Especially when you’re as kind as you are.”

Ed hadn’t mocked him, he hadn’t seen Pop and flinched away, screaming about how disgusting a rat is. 

“You need to leave that rundown place. And shake off those delusions haunting you.”

His voice shakes, “Atone for your crimes Ed… That’s what you need now.”

And Ed makes this awful choking sound, his hands grabbing at his blonde hair, then pulling away from his face as he wails, and then he’s moving.

He slams into him and Will falls into the snow with a yelp, Ed’s fingers tangling into his jacket and pulling on it.

He’s honestly not sure if it’s an attack or not, not with Ed still sobbing, his tears falling onto his face.

“H-help me Will! I don’t know what to do anymore!”

He remembers Misery, her endless tears, the pain she radiated, he wonders how he didn’t see that in Ed from the jump. 

“I-I know there’s something wrong with me. But then… w-what should I do?! Dad… And Rob… they’re gone! N-no one can tell me anymore! Please… L-Listen to what I’m saying! There’s no other way!”

They’re both shaking now, Will being jolted by Ed’s trembling.

“Even if you become happy that way, it’ll still just be you! You’ll always be all alone! And someday… you’ll end up hanging yourself! I don’t want that at all! _I’ll never be a hanged man!_ ”

There’s a horrible _bang_ and Ed falls over off of him, and it’s Keith, Keith is there, blood is still soaking his face, he’s practically covered in it, but he’s there, he’s okay. 

And Ed tries to run and Keith fires again and he falls over, and for a moment it’s silent.

Will doesn’t try to convince himself he’s not relieved when he realizes Ed is still breathing.

**Author's Note:**

> This game ruined me emotionally, but especially the Real Good Man ending and Edward Hayes as a character.  
> Oh, I said Ed had his own blood on him because I'm relatively sure he got shot by Keith earlier, it was kinda hard to tell, but I decided to go with it, same with when he tackled Will, it didn't strike me as an attack, more like desperation, and Will didn't sound like he was being choked, but I'm not entirely sure.


End file.
